Tag: Dreamliner

We like window seats, so our review of Scoot’s Boeing 787 Dreamliner was off to a flying start.

On boarding in Sydney, our eyes were immediately drawn to the Dreamliner’s oversized windows, which are said to be as much as 30 percent bigger than usual and allow in much more natural light.

It was the first time either of us had been on a Dreamliner; setting off from Australia to run the senior traveller’s microscope over Scoot’s European service to Athens, Greece.

And, first impressions were certainly positive.

As we moved onboard, we also noted wide seats, good leg room and bumper-sized overhead storage lockers that fold into the ceiling.

At our ages, wide seats are increasingly appreciated and big overhead lockers overcome the competition for bag space that often occurs on flights today.

In the ScootBiz premium cabin at the front of the plane, the spacious seating arrangement further emphasised the Dreamliner’s wide body.

On take-off, you really feel a surge of power through this plane and the sweep of the 787’s wings looks pretty sleek through the big windows.

Time passed quickly on the first leg of the trip, as we took a lot of photographs and were hard at work on Scoot’s in-flight wifi. There were at least eight laptops and several iPads logged onto the service in ScootBiz, but the wifi was easy to join and, for the most part, was fast enough for our purposes.

In what seemed like no time at all, we were descending into Singapore and stepping into the colourful and always-busy Changi Airport.

After refreshing and catching some sleep in an airport lounge, courtesy of our son, Dane, we were back in the air and headed off into the early morning on the long haul to Athens.

Once again, we marvelled at the smooth flight and quiet operation of the Scoot Dreamliner and the splendid vision of the night sky through the windows.

The lack of noise is particularly noticable and is a big improvement over every other plane we’ve used. The contrast with the Jumbo Jet, for example, is marked.

Other improvements in the Scoot Dreamliner are far more subtle: like lower cabin altitude and higher humidity.

An inbuilt humidifier improves air quality, with the aim of preventing skin from drying and allowing you to feel refreshed at the destination.

As we sit here, there are no obvious signs that we will emerge from this Scoot Dreamliner trip with the rosy complexions of a teenager, but who knows?

LED lighting in the Scoot Dreamliner is also a big improvement on the old days of either having the cabin lights on or the cabin lights off. Here, our crew can choose from a wide range of both colours and degrees of brightness.

When it’s time for us to sleep, the lighting will mimic the night sky. But when we need to be awake, the cabin will fill with a simulated sunrise – moving gradually from near darkness to a dark blue – and then a warm shade of orange.

Apparently, the aim is to help keep your internal clock in sync and possibly minimise jet lag. I’ll let you know about that one.

Aviation-speak aside, from our viewpoint as senior travellers, the Dreamliner combined with the ScootBiz premium cabin is giving the nicest and most comfortable long haul trip we’ve experienced.

Our Age-friendly Rating

10/10: From our experience, the Scoot Dreamliner is the perfect aircraft for today’s long-haul traveller. This new-age composite wonder is, quite simply, a delight for travellers. The features mentioned in this review opened our eyes to the advances in aircraft and aviation development that have led to this marvel. We couldn’t find any reason not to give the Scoot Dreamliner a perfect score. The way aviation is changing, there undoubtedly will be an even better aircraft down the line, but for the moment at least, we haven’t experienced anything to top this.

Note: Our flights for this review are being provided by Scoot Airlines. But, as always, the opinions are fiercely independent.

Meet Ian and Sue

G'day, we're experienced travellers from Australia - and welcome to a new type of website that gives our views on the age-friendliness of travel products and hotels. Click on our photo to learn more about us - and check our comments before you book that retirement trip, select an airline, consider a destination, choose a hotel or buy an anti-theft travel bag. We tell it like it is!

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